what’s scarier than thinking about those crazy heaven’s gate followers who thought the hale-bopp comet would bring them to alien salvation? a cousin who is beginning to possess the symptoms of an extreme religious fanatic.

just today my aunt came by my house. i had a lengthy talk with her about my younger cousin, her daughter. my aunt was very worried about this cousin of mine; ever since her father left, my cousin has been getting involved with a lot of born again christian diatribe. at first, i didn’t think it was too bad. i have friends who strongly believe in christianity and i have no real qualms with their beliefs versus my own skeptical ones. but then my aunt proceeded to tell me that my cousin has been going to parking lots with her group of born again christian friends just to pray in front of the vehicle owners. they go to parks and schools to do the same. when my aunt gets home from work expecting to see my cousin done with her chores, she instead finds her daughter sitting on the couch reading the bible, fanatically captivated by every word. she has broken up with her longterm boyfriend whom she loved a lot merely because he was not a born again christian. he wasn’t so actively involved in keeping the faith as she was. being a born again christian has become her way of life and i’m afraid to say that this somewhat scares me.

i’m not scared because i don’t believe in god or because i don’t always encourage church-going. i’m scared because this faith of hers has started to make her past relationships with that of her close friends and even her own mother deteriorate in light of her newfound religion. i didn’t think having such strong faith was supposed to isolate you from the people you love and vice-versa. i didn’t think investing time and energy into something that was supposed to leave you feeling fulfilled made you instead lose contact with what you cherished most in the world.

when i think about judaism, for example, i cannot help but recount the many times that i’ve heard a jewish boy or girl should not marry someone of “dissident” religion. since when did faith in all its glory force people to separate themselves from the rest of the human race? if anything, i thought faith was supposed to bring us together as a whole, when looking at it in an ideal sense. then why do i only see isolation and seclusion of beliefs? for all who believe that there is a holy supreme power that watches over us all, recognize the fact that sensationalizing your own beliefs in effect excludes any other fellow person from being a part of your world. and that’s not what faith is all about.

faith has always been a murky subject for myself. there are so many flaws to the way people use it and the way they use it against one another. it just does not make sense. how can a person of such strong faith in a power that created everything in the world want to shut themselves out from the very thing that shapes the same world they worship — differing opinions and beliefs? this, my friends, is religious segregation. it goes against the elementary faith behind every belief known to man.

i’m simply throwing these awry facts your way and prodding for comments. please feel free to help better my understanding.